SURVIVAL Unit
  • How do people cope when they are placed in circumstances where their survival is under threat?

  • Why are there so many stories about people’s conflict with nature?


This unit will focus on the idea of survival in nature, and how people have addressed this idea in fiction, films, short stories and non-fiction.
We will be developing our understanding of and skills in:


  • Using different strategies to read texts
  • Making connections between texts
  • Writing appropriately about texts
  • Oral presentations
  • Group work

To begin with you have chosen a text to read that deals with the idea of survival. Read some at home, but remember to bring it to school to read and use in class too.



Becoming Better Readers


The first strategy we are looking at is making connections between your prior knowledge and the text.

Use these prompts to start you writing a paragraph about connections you can make with the book that you have chosen.
•This story reminds me of... •This is like...•I already knew that...•I have heard of...•Something I have done like this is...

We have also practised:
  • Making hypotheses about texts (a theory) and testing it.
  • Asking questions about texts
  • Making images or visualising texts


HOMEWORK for week of 14th-18th of September.
Finish reading the first book that you chose. Complete the character note chart comparing Chuck from Cast Away and the a character from the book that you are reading.
This is due on Friday.



Main Novel Task


This is the individual or partners task that you will complete over the next few weeks. You have a copy of the booklet with the guidelines and I also include it here if you need to refer to it.



The due dates for the three tasks you will do are:

  • Friday the 26th of September
  • Tuesday the 13th of October
  • Friday the 16th of October

Or, if you want to negotiate with me a different time for these let me know. If I can see they are all coming along and you are working well that should be fine, but please let me know.


Essay Tasks - answering our guiding question with the texts we have studied.



Here is a description of how to make an introduction and conclusion for this essay. Remember, you do not have to follow exactly this format, but you do need to answer the question.




And here is the info about making topic sentences and examples for your paragraphs.